This hike makes a nice, moderately difficult loop within Chino Hills State Park. The hike begins at a trailhead in a Yorba Linda neighborhood at the corner of Rimcrest Drive and Blue Gum Drive. This is a popular trailhead, despite the fact that it is not the official entrance into the park. Until recently, there was a welcome sign at this trailhead, but with the opening of the new visitors center in Brea, it appears as if the California State Parks are trying to encourage people to use the official entrance into the park instead of this side entrance.

[flickr id=”6157839300″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] From the trailhead, there are three possible paths to take. Running left to right is the South Ridge Trail and ahead is the Easy Street Trail. This route follows the South Ridge Trail to the left and returns on the Easy Street Trail. A shorter and less strenuous loop can be found by following South Ridge Trail to the right. This other loop will be mapped in a future post.

South Ridge Trail runs the length of the park East to West. Since it does generally follow the ridge line, the trail is quite undulating. From the trailhead, South Ridge Trail heads uphill for two-tenths of a mile before starting some mild up and downs that are gradually downhill. There are several lookout spots along South Ridge Trail that will allow you easily see Catalina Island on a clear day (however, on a smoggy day like when I hike this route, you can’t even see the Big A.)

[flickr id=”6157301829″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] Diemer Trail is a turnoff from South Ridge Trail. Diemer Trail is approximately 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Diemer Trail runs down the hillside between South Ridge Trail and Telegraph Canyon Trail at the base of the canyon through a series of broad switchbacks. As you head down the hill, the vegetation starts to become thicker and the wildlife more apparent.

At the base of the hill you come to Telegraph Canyon Trail, which runs in the canyon between North Ridge Trail and South Ridge Trail. Telegraph Canyon Trail is a wide, well maintained fire road that’s slightly uphill. Along the trail, there are a number of small stream crossings. Normally you can find a dry path along the edge of the trail, where the mountain bikers haven’t dug a rut, but a spare pair of socks would be a good precaution. Continue reading Peters Canyon Regional Park – Peters Canyon and Lake View Trails

This hike makes a nice, moderately difficult loop within Chino Hills State Park. The hike begins at a trailhead in a Yorba Linda neighborhood at the corner of Rimcrest Drive and Blue Gum Drive. This is a popular trailhead, despite the fact that it is not the official entrance into the park. Until recently, there was a welcome sign at this trailhead, but with the opening of the new visitors center in Brea, it appears as if the California State Parks are trying to encourage people to use the official entrance into the park instead of this side entrance.

[flickr id=”6157839300″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] From the trailhead, there are three possible paths to take. Running left to right is the South Ridge Trail and ahead is the Easy Street Trail. This route follows the South Ridge Trail to the left and returns on the Easy Street Trail. A shorter and less strenuous loop can be found by following South Ridge Trail to the right. This other loop will be mapped in a future post.

South Ridge Trail runs the length of the park East to West. Since it does generally follow the ridge line, the trail is quite undulating. From the trailhead, South Ridge Trail heads uphill for two-tenths of a mile before starting some mild up and downs that are gradually downhill. There are several lookout spots along South Ridge Trail that will allow you easily see Catalina Island on a clear day (however, on a smoggy day like when I hike this route, you can’t even see the Big A.)

[flickr id=”6157301829″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] Diemer Trail is a turnoff from South Ridge Trail. Diemer Trail is approximately 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Diemer Trail runs down the hillside between South Ridge Trail and Telegraph Canyon Trail at the base of the canyon through a series of broad switchbacks. As you head down the hill, the vegetation starts to become thicker and the wildlife more apparent.

At the base of the hill you come to Telegraph Canyon Trail, which runs in the canyon between North Ridge Trail and South Ridge Trail. Telegraph Canyon Trail is a wide, well maintained fire road that’s slightly uphill. Along the trail, there are a number of small stream crossings. Normally you can find a dry path along the edge of the trail, where the mountain bikers haven’t dug a rut, but a spare pair of socks would be a good precaution. Continue reading Weir Canyon Wilderness Park – Anaheim Hills Riding and Walking Trail

This hike makes a nice, moderately difficult loop within Chino Hills State Park. The hike begins at a trailhead in a Yorba Linda neighborhood at the corner of Rimcrest Drive and Blue Gum Drive. This is a popular trailhead, despite the fact that it is not the official entrance into the park. Until recently, there was a welcome sign at this trailhead, but with the opening of the new visitors center in Brea, it appears as if the California State Parks are trying to encourage people to use the official entrance into the park instead of this side entrance.

[flickr id=”6157839300″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] From the trailhead, there are three possible paths to take. Running left to right is the South Ridge Trail and ahead is the Easy Street Trail. This route follows the South Ridge Trail to the left and returns on the Easy Street Trail. A shorter and less strenuous loop can be found by following South Ridge Trail to the right. This other loop will be mapped in a future post.

South Ridge Trail runs the length of the park East to West. Since it does generally follow the ridge line, the trail is quite undulating. From the trailhead, South Ridge Trail heads uphill for two-tenths of a mile before starting some mild up and downs that are gradually downhill. There are several lookout spots along South Ridge Trail that will allow you easily see Catalina Island on a clear day (however, on a smoggy day like when I hike this route, you can’t even see the Big A.)

[flickr id=”6157301829″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”false” size=”medium” group=”” align=”left”] Diemer Trail is a turnoff from South Ridge Trail. Diemer Trail is approximately 1.3 miles from the trailhead. Diemer Trail runs down the hillside between South Ridge Trail and Telegraph Canyon Trail at the base of the canyon through a series of broad switchbacks. As you head down the hill, the vegetation starts to become thicker and the wildlife more apparent.

At the base of the hill you come to Telegraph Canyon Trail, which runs in the canyon between North Ridge Trail and South Ridge Trail. Telegraph Canyon Trail is a wide, well maintained fire road that’s slightly uphill. Along the trail, there are a number of small stream crossings. Normally you can find a dry path along the edge of the trail, where the mountain bikers haven’t dug a rut, but a spare pair of socks would be a good precaution. Continue reading Chino Hills SP – South Ridge, Diemer, Telegraph Canyon & Easy Street Trails

I just relized that I did have JOHO the Blog in my blogadex. Now it’s time to remove the dupicate.
Last night, global burden of disease while I was trying to go to sleep I was thinking about ablogging more, recipe and I have one problem with it, I don’t have enough storage space online to even have low quality mp3s. It would be nice if I could find a place that had a gig of storage for $5/mo. unlimited bandwidth and ftp access. Anybody know of suck a place? Anybody willing to let me use their account so I can try out ablogging? I have some room on this server, but not a lot, so I will maybe make one or two ablog posts to see how it goes. But after that I’m S.O.L.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
Chicago, remedy
the new movie, pharmacy is really good. I saw it tonight, I might buy the soundtrack tomorrow. Go see this movie.
When I wake up in the morning, remind me to write about my idea for a graphical representation of theBlogging Ecosystem and other like documents. (Really, this is just a note to myself.)Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, thumb it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism.
The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog.
Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, surgery it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, medicine maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism. The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog. Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.
The 2010 primaries are coming up shortly so I thought I’d put together a short voting guide as I’ve done for past elections. In the past when I’ve written up my voter guide, see I’ve included a recommendation for offices and initiatives. This year however, patient I see few choices in most races so I will wait to make a recommendation on candidates until the general election, purchase with a couple exceptions.

One exception I’m going to make is for the job of Public Administrator for Orange County. Normally, I say why I support a candidate; I try to make my recommendations affirmative, instead of voting against a candidate. However, in the case of Steve Rocco, I can’t emphasize enough the need to vote for anybody else. Mr. Rocco is a perennial candidate, having run for Mayor of Santa Ana in 2000 and Santa Ana City Council in 2008. In 2004, he was elected to the Orange Unified School Board. He was a terrible board member. There was even a recall petition that circulated to try to have him removed from the board. This was mostly because he was more interested in railing against the black vans out to get him (no joke, he’s actually that crazy) and talking about his mother’s health problems than in improving the quality of education in OUSD. It’s also good to note that he was convicted of theft for stealing a half-full bottle of ketchup from a Chapman University cafeteria. Do not vote for this man, he is not Andy Kaufman.

Also in Orange County, there is a fairly contentious race for Sheriff. There are three candidates on the ballot, the incumbent sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter, and former OC Sheriffs Deputy Bill Hunt. Orange County’s Sheriffs department has had a rocky few years. The previous Sheriff, Mike Carona, was indicted for corruption and convicted for witness tampering. After his resignation, Sheriff Hutchens was appointed to the job with the mandate to clean up the department. She brought a very different style and mentality to the department which has rubbed many people the wrong way. The biggest political issue that she has run into is in changing Carona’s policy on concealed weapons permits, refusing to issue most permits in an effort to reduce the number of guns on the street. Both Hunt and Hunter have latched on to this issue, promising to issue permits to anybody who qualifies and asks for one. While I agree with Hunt and Hunter on this issue and believe that a shall-issue policy is the correct one, I also believe that they are using this issue for political reasons without honest convictions to back it up. Sheriff Hutchens is the only candidate out of the three that doesn’t seem to be playing political games and is more interested in serving the residents of Orange County than being a politician.

Now, on to the state-wide issues.

Proposition 13 – Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.YES. This measure will make it so building owners will not be faced with having their property re-assessed for tax purposes if they make seismic upgrades to their properties. On the one hand, property taxes are too low and it’s bankrupting the state. Anybody that’s worried about the revaluation of their property probably isn’t paying their fair share of taxes so they SHOULD have it re-valuated. On the other hand, that creates a disincentive for property owners to make structural upgrades that would make their buildings safe, which is a bad thing. At the end of the day, it’s probably better for the state and local governments to give up a small bit of property tax revenue in order to improve the seismic stability of California’s older buildings. The cost to cities for first responders if one of these buildings were to collapse in a large earthquake would far outweigh the additional tax revenue the city would receive from re-assessing the buildings.

Proposition 14 – Elections. Increases Right to Participate in Primary Elections.YES. This measure creates a version of an open primary for state offices. California once had a version of an open primary referred to as a blanket primary, but the courts struck that system down because it violated the people’s freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Proposition 14 will create a different type of open primary, commonly referred to as a Jungle Primary. This system too has been challenged in court, but in 2008 the US Supreme Court ruled that jungle primaries are constitutional. A jungle primary is different than a blanket primary in one important way: it creates what’s tantamount to a runoff election between the two highest vote getters from the primary during the general election, regardless of party. In the old system, anybody could vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary election, and the highest vote getter from each party would move on to the general election. In a jungle primary, voters are still able to vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary, but only the two highest vote getters will be on the ballot in the general election. This makes it so it will be possible, even likely, that we’ll see two Republicans facing off during the general election in conservative areas and two Democrats in liberal areas. This will enable voters in the general election to pick the more moderate candidate and should lead to less extremism in the state house from both parties.

Proposition 15 – California Fair Elections Act.YES. This measure paves the way for public funding of elections in California. Whether you support this proposition or not all comes down to your views on public financing of elections, and I believe that we should do everything we can to get money out of politics. The current national debate over finance reform is a perfect example of the corrupting influence money has on politics. Senators from both parties are voting against the wishes and best interests of their constituents because they are afraid of Wall Street’s campaign finance spigot being turned off. Publicly funded elections will help ensure our elected representatives are actually representing the voters’ interests and not their donors. Proposition 15 is one small step in that direction.

Proposition 16 – Imposes New Two-Thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.NO. This measure is designed to limit cities ability to create municipal electric utilities. There are two great things that Anaheim has: Disneyland and the Anaheim Public Utilities. Disneyland brings tourists, which in turn bring money and tax revenue to the city. The Anaheim Public Utilities has enabled the city to provide electricity for about a third less than the rates charged by Southern California Edison for Anaheim’s neighboring cities. In addition, Anaheim Public Utilities has been able to build up the city’s supply of electricity that’s generated locally, helping to ensure the power stays on in the event of rolling blackouts that California has experienced in the past. The money Anaheim has spent on its public utilities has been a great investment for the city over the long run. This proposition will make it much harder for other cities to make similar investments in their communities. The campaign for this proposition is funded in large part by California’s major utility companies, which are trying to limit the amount of competition they face throughout the state. More competition is generally good for consumers, this proposition is being marketed as a way to protect residents when in fact it’s simply trying to protect corporate interests.

Proposition 17 – Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.NO. This measure would enable auto insurance companies to raise or lower your premium based on your history of past auto insurance coverage. This means that drivers will be penalized if they drop their insurance coverage for a period of more than 90 days for any reason. For many people, there are good and legitimate reasons why they don’t need car insurance for extended periods of time that has nothing to do with their quality as a driver or risk posed to the insurance company. This change will lead to people keeping their insurance even if they don’t need it simply to avoid the increase in premium later on. Quite simply, a history of insurance coverage is not a valid indicator of driver risk. This is a proposition funded by an insurance company that would increase their profits, not help California drivers.In recent weeks, see I’ve seen a lot of friends sign up for Dropbox. Dropbox is an online server that lets you store files that are then retrievable from any computer with an internet connection. They also provide the ability to share files with friends or the public.

The great thing about having an easy to use file storage service online is that it enables you to create a backup of your files available from any computer on the internet. Unfortunately, Dropbox doesn’t provide you with a way to automatically back up your files without manually copying them to your Dropbox folder. This little how-to will guide you through the process of automatically backing up your files using Cron and Dropbox. (NOTE: These instructions are for Mac users running OS X. The instructions will be very similar if you are using *nix. If you are using Windows, you can use Windows Scheduler instead of Cron to accomplish the same thing.)

The first thing that you’ll need to do is get Dropbox set up and working. If you already have a Dropbox account and the software installed, feel free to skip over this part to the next section.

Once the Dropbox software is installed and configured, it will create a new folder in your user directory. For me, the folder is /Users/Grant/Dropbox. Any files in this directory will be uploaded to Dropbox’s server and available online.

Now that Dropbox is set up, it’s time to get it to back up your files automatically. We’re going to do this with a cron job that will copy whatever files you want backed up into the /Dropbox folder.

For purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to assume we want to back up your Documents folder every hour. Please note, however, that Dropbox limits how much free space they provide. If your Documents folder is larger than the space they provide, you will either need to purchase more space or be more selective about what you’re backing up.

Go into your Applications folder and start Terminal.app.

In Terminal, type crontab -e, a new file will open up that is most likely blank with every line showing a ~, this is your list of cron jobs. Cron jobs run specific commands at predetermined intervals. We’re going to add a new cron job to the list.

First, we must determine how often to run your backup script. As I said earlier, we’re going to assume we want it backed up every hour. To do this we start the line by typing in 0 * * * *. This says that when the minute says 0 (i.e. at the top of the hour), on every hour, every day, every month, and every day of the week, run this command.

Now that cron knows how often to run the command, we need to tell it what command to run. This is a very basic copy command. On the same line that we have 0 * * * *, add cp -r /Users/<USERNAME>/Documents /Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup. This says that we’re going to recurrsively copy (cp -r) our source directory (/Users/<USERNAME>/Documents) and place it in our destination directory (/Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup). Of course, you’ll have to replace with whatever your login name is on your computer. For me it’s Grant, for you it’s probably something different.

You should end up with a single line in cron that reads 0 * * * * cp -r /Users/<USERNAME>/Documents /Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup.

Now, the final step is saving your cron job. In your Terminal window, hit esc and type :wq. This will write the cron job to a file and then quit out of crontab.

Quit out of Terminal.app.

Now, all of the files in your Documents folder should be being copied to the Dropbox folder and uploaded to Dropbox’s website. If you want to backup multiple directories, not just your Documents folder, or a subset of your Documents folder because of size constraints, just add additional lines to crontab, changing the source directory location.

I hope this short tutorial helped you create an automatic backup of all of your documents. If you have any questions or problems, feel free to leave a comment.

I just relized that I did have JOHO the Blog in my blogadex. Now it’s time to remove the dupicate.
Last night, global burden of disease while I was trying to go to sleep I was thinking about ablogging more, recipe and I have one problem with it, I don’t have enough storage space online to even have low quality mp3s. It would be nice if I could find a place that had a gig of storage for $5/mo. unlimited bandwidth and ftp access. Anybody know of suck a place? Anybody willing to let me use their account so I can try out ablogging? I have some room on this server, but not a lot, so I will maybe make one or two ablog posts to see how it goes. But after that I’m S.O.L.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
Chicago, remedy
the new movie, pharmacy is really good. I saw it tonight, I might buy the soundtrack tomorrow. Go see this movie.
When I wake up in the morning, remind me to write about my idea for a graphical representation of theBlogging Ecosystem and other like documents. (Really, this is just a note to myself.)Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, thumb it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism.
The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog.
Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, surgery it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, medicine maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism. The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog. Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.
The 2010 primaries are coming up shortly so I thought I’d put together a short voting guide as I’ve done for past elections. In the past when I’ve written up my voter guide, see I’ve included a recommendation for offices and initiatives. This year however, patient I see few choices in most races so I will wait to make a recommendation on candidates until the general election, purchase with a couple exceptions.

One exception I’m going to make is for the job of Public Administrator for Orange County. Normally, I say why I support a candidate; I try to make my recommendations affirmative, instead of voting against a candidate. However, in the case of Steve Rocco, I can’t emphasize enough the need to vote for anybody else. Mr. Rocco is a perennial candidate, having run for Mayor of Santa Ana in 2000 and Santa Ana City Council in 2008. In 2004, he was elected to the Orange Unified School Board. He was a terrible board member. There was even a recall petition that circulated to try to have him removed from the board. This was mostly because he was more interested in railing against the black vans out to get him (no joke, he’s actually that crazy) and talking about his mother’s health problems than in improving the quality of education in OUSD. It’s also good to note that he was convicted of theft for stealing a half-full bottle of ketchup from a Chapman University cafeteria. Do not vote for this man, he is not Andy Kaufman.

Also in Orange County, there is a fairly contentious race for Sheriff. There are three candidates on the ballot, the incumbent sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter, and former OC Sheriffs Deputy Bill Hunt. Orange County’s Sheriffs department has had a rocky few years. The previous Sheriff, Mike Carona, was indicted for corruption and convicted for witness tampering. After his resignation, Sheriff Hutchens was appointed to the job with the mandate to clean up the department. She brought a very different style and mentality to the department which has rubbed many people the wrong way. The biggest political issue that she has run into is in changing Carona’s policy on concealed weapons permits, refusing to issue most permits in an effort to reduce the number of guns on the street. Both Hunt and Hunter have latched on to this issue, promising to issue permits to anybody who qualifies and asks for one. While I agree with Hunt and Hunter on this issue and believe that a shall-issue policy is the correct one, I also believe that they are using this issue for political reasons without honest convictions to back it up. Sheriff Hutchens is the only candidate out of the three that doesn’t seem to be playing political games and is more interested in serving the residents of Orange County than being a politician.

Now, on to the state-wide issues.

Proposition 13 – Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.YES. This measure will make it so building owners will not be faced with having their property re-assessed for tax purposes if they make seismic upgrades to their properties. On the one hand, property taxes are too low and it’s bankrupting the state. Anybody that’s worried about the revaluation of their property probably isn’t paying their fair share of taxes so they SHOULD have it re-valuated. On the other hand, that creates a disincentive for property owners to make structural upgrades that would make their buildings safe, which is a bad thing. At the end of the day, it’s probably better for the state and local governments to give up a small bit of property tax revenue in order to improve the seismic stability of California’s older buildings. The cost to cities for first responders if one of these buildings were to collapse in a large earthquake would far outweigh the additional tax revenue the city would receive from re-assessing the buildings.

Proposition 14 – Elections. Increases Right to Participate in Primary Elections.YES. This measure creates a version of an open primary for state offices. California once had a version of an open primary referred to as a blanket primary, but the courts struck that system down because it violated the people’s freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Proposition 14 will create a different type of open primary, commonly referred to as a Jungle Primary. This system too has been challenged in court, but in 2008 the US Supreme Court ruled that jungle primaries are constitutional. A jungle primary is different than a blanket primary in one important way: it creates what’s tantamount to a runoff election between the two highest vote getters from the primary during the general election, regardless of party. In the old system, anybody could vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary election, and the highest vote getter from each party would move on to the general election. In a jungle primary, voters are still able to vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary, but only the two highest vote getters will be on the ballot in the general election. This makes it so it will be possible, even likely, that we’ll see two Republicans facing off during the general election in conservative areas and two Democrats in liberal areas. This will enable voters in the general election to pick the more moderate candidate and should lead to less extremism in the state house from both parties.

Proposition 15 – California Fair Elections Act.YES. This measure paves the way for public funding of elections in California. Whether you support this proposition or not all comes down to your views on public financing of elections, and I believe that we should do everything we can to get money out of politics. The current national debate over finance reform is a perfect example of the corrupting influence money has on politics. Senators from both parties are voting against the wishes and best interests of their constituents because they are afraid of Wall Street’s campaign finance spigot being turned off. Publicly funded elections will help ensure our elected representatives are actually representing the voters’ interests and not their donors. Proposition 15 is one small step in that direction.

Proposition 16 – Imposes New Two-Thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.NO. This measure is designed to limit cities ability to create municipal electric utilities. There are two great things that Anaheim has: Disneyland and the Anaheim Public Utilities. Disneyland brings tourists, which in turn bring money and tax revenue to the city. The Anaheim Public Utilities has enabled the city to provide electricity for about a third less than the rates charged by Southern California Edison for Anaheim’s neighboring cities. In addition, Anaheim Public Utilities has been able to build up the city’s supply of electricity that’s generated locally, helping to ensure the power stays on in the event of rolling blackouts that California has experienced in the past. The money Anaheim has spent on its public utilities has been a great investment for the city over the long run. This proposition will make it much harder for other cities to make similar investments in their communities. The campaign for this proposition is funded in large part by California’s major utility companies, which are trying to limit the amount of competition they face throughout the state. More competition is generally good for consumers, this proposition is being marketed as a way to protect residents when in fact it’s simply trying to protect corporate interests.

Proposition 17 – Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.NO. This measure would enable auto insurance companies to raise or lower your premium based on your history of past auto insurance coverage. This means that drivers will be penalized if they drop their insurance coverage for a period of more than 90 days for any reason. For many people, there are good and legitimate reasons why they don’t need car insurance for extended periods of time that has nothing to do with their quality as a driver or risk posed to the insurance company. This change will lead to people keeping their insurance even if they don’t need it simply to avoid the increase in premium later on. Quite simply, a history of insurance coverage is not a valid indicator of driver risk. This is a proposition funded by an insurance company that would increase their profits, not help California drivers.In recent weeks, see I’ve seen a lot of friends sign up for Dropbox. Dropbox is an online server that lets you store files that are then retrievable from any computer with an internet connection. They also provide the ability to share files with friends or the public.

The great thing about having an easy to use file storage service online is that it enables you to create a backup of your files available from any computer on the internet. Unfortunately, Dropbox doesn’t provide you with a way to automatically back up your files without manually copying them to your Dropbox folder. This little how-to will guide you through the process of automatically backing up your files using Cron and Dropbox. (NOTE: These instructions are for Mac users running OS X. The instructions will be very similar if you are using *nix. If you are using Windows, you can use Windows Scheduler instead of Cron to accomplish the same thing.)

The first thing that you’ll need to do is get Dropbox set up and working. If you already have a Dropbox account and the software installed, feel free to skip over this part to the next section.

Once the Dropbox software is installed and configured, it will create a new folder in your user directory. For me, the folder is /Users/Grant/Dropbox. Any files in this directory will be uploaded to Dropbox’s server and available online.

Now that Dropbox is set up, it’s time to get it to back up your files automatically. We’re going to do this with a cron job that will copy whatever files you want backed up into the /Dropbox folder.

For purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to assume we want to back up your Documents folder every hour. Please note, however, that Dropbox limits how much free space they provide. If your Documents folder is larger than the space they provide, you will either need to purchase more space or be more selective about what you’re backing up.

Go into your Applications folder and start Terminal.app.

In Terminal, type crontab -e, a new file will open up that is most likely blank with every line showing a ~, this is your list of cron jobs. Cron jobs run specific commands at predetermined intervals. We’re going to add a new cron job to the list.

First, we must determine how often to run your backup script. As I said earlier, we’re going to assume we want it backed up every hour. To do this we start the line by typing in 0 * * * *. This says that when the minute says 0 (i.e. at the top of the hour), on every hour, every day, every month, and every day of the week, run this command.

Now that cron knows how often to run the command, we need to tell it what command to run. This is a very basic copy command. On the same line that we have 0 * * * *, add cp -r /Users/<USERNAME>/Documents /Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup. This says that we’re going to recurrsively copy (cp -r) our source directory (/Users/<USERNAME>/Documents) and place it in our destination directory (/Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup). Of course, you’ll have to replace with whatever your login name is on your computer. For me it’s Grant, for you it’s probably something different.

You should end up with a single line in cron that reads 0 * * * * cp -r /Users/<USERNAME>/Documents /Users/<USERNAME>/Dropbox/Backup.

Now, the final step is saving your cron job. In your Terminal window, hit esc and type :wq. This will write the cron job to a file and then quit out of crontab.

Quit out of Terminal.app.

Now, all of the files in your Documents folder should be being copied to the Dropbox folder and uploaded to Dropbox’s website. If you want to backup multiple directories, not just your Documents folder, or a subset of your Documents folder because of size constraints, just add additional lines to crontab, changing the source directory location.

I hope this short tutorial helped you create an automatic backup of all of your documents. If you have any questions or problems, feel free to leave a comment.
The number of people that have asked me for this is a bit scary. Until I was way late in posting this, visit I didn’t realize how much people listened to what I had to say on these propositions. This year, viagra sale I’m only reviewing the propositions and my local city council and mayoral races. As far as the state-wide offices go, I’m voting party line this election. I’m not thrilled with all of the Democratic candidates, but the Republican candidates scare me. They are running on a platform of having no experience in politics, and I simply can’t think of any job where not having any experience would be an asset.

City of Anaheim Elections

Mayor Tom Tait I’ll be voting for Tom Tait for Anaheim Mayor on Tuesday. I’ve met both candidates a number of times, and I simply think Tom will be able to serve the city better. I think Shirley McCracken is a good person that has served the community well in the past and is running for all the right reasons. However, I think that Tom is a bit more savvy and will be able to get better deals for the city when negotiating with powerful interests like developers, Disney and our two sports teams. Also, I like how he views leadership and management. He wants to push the decision making as low down the totem pole as possible, empowering our city staff to make a difference in our community.

Councilwoman Kris Murray One of my two votes for City Council will go to Kris Murray. She has been actively working in government and our community for many years. She has been instrumental in getting Anaheim to apply for an Enterprise Zone, which I would expect we’ll get approved in the next couple of months. This will be a great benefit to Anaheim by encouraging additional investment and job growth within the city. I support Kris for City Council so strongly that I’ll be walking for her campaign on Saturday.

Councilman John Leos My second vote for City Council will be going to John Leos. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with John on numerous occasions over the past few months. He is a bit of a rarity, in that he is a Republican that’s also a union guy. In a fairly Republican city with a lot of union activity, I think John is well placed to be an effective city leader able to navigate between the residents and the unions.

State-wide Ballot Initiatives

Proposition 19 – Legalizes Marijuana Under California but Not Federal Law. Permits Local Governments to Regulate and Tax Commercial Production, Distribution, and Sale of Marijuana. Initiative Statute.YES. I’ve been going back and forth on this proposition for weeks now. I support the legalization of marijuana. However, Prop 19 has some problems with the way it goes about that. The drug war against pot costs the state and our cities untold millions of dollars to arrest and prosecute people that are doing something that is harmless to society as a whole. I’m sympathetic to MADD’s argument that Prop 19 doesn’t do enough to define what driving while high means. However, there are already laws on the books that say you can’t drive while under the influence of drugs, whether they are legal drugs or not. Prop 19 also doesn’t define how cities are to regulate the sale of marijuana, but thinking about it, the State doesn’t define how cities regulate the sale of alcohol either. Yes, there will be a period of time where cities have wildly different regulations, but as time progresses, cities will get more or less in line with one another and things will work out. After thinking about Prop 19 for a good long time, I think the long-term benefits of legalizing marijuana now outweighs the short-term disruptions we might see while holes in the law get filled in.

Proposition 20 – Redistricting of Congressional Districts. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.YES. In 2008, Californians passed Proposition 11 which created the Citizen Redistricting Commission to determine the district boundaries during the next round of redistricting for California Senate and Assembly Districts. Prop 20 will also have the Citizen Redistricting Commission redraw the California congressional districts. I’m not 100% sure of the outcome of the Citizen Redistricting Commission, it’s a big and complex issue for part-time volunteers to wrap their arms around. For the most part, I think the districts will be drawn by the staffers assigned to the commission. However, I think it’s an interesting experiment that has great potential to create some competitive races within California. If we’re going to make this change for the state house, we should do it for Congress as well.

Proposition 21 – Establishes $18 Annual Vehicle License Surcharge to Help Fund State Parks and Wildlife Programs. Grants Surcharged Vehicles Free Admission to All State Parks. Initiative Statue.YES. Personally, I’m a big believer in preserving open space and making it available for people’s use. This proposition will provide more money for California’s State Parks while freeing up monies currently being used for the parks to be used for other state services.

Proposition 22 – Prohibits the State From Borrowing or Taking Funds Used for Transportation, Redevelopment, or Local Government Projects and Services. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.YES. Earlier this year, the State of California took over $2 Billion from cities throughout the state to balance the budget. This proposition would prohibit the state from doing that again. Most Californians receive the basic government services through the city they live in, not through the State itself. Just like that State, cities are having a hard time balancing their budget during these difficult economic times. We can’t allow the State to continue increasing the burden on our cities and making it harder for them to provide the essential services we use every day.

Proposition 23 – Suspends Implementation of Air Pollution Control Law (AB 32) Requiring Major Sources of Emissions to Report and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions That Cause Global Warming, Until Unemployment Drops to 5.5 Precent or Less for Full Year. Initiative Statute.NO. In 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) into law. AB 32 is intended to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions to the levels they were in 1990 by 2020. Prop 23 suspends AB 32 until California has a 5.5% unemployment rate for a full year. Unfortunately, California has only had an unemployment rate that low for about seven of the last forty years. Prop 23 essentially ensures AB 32 will not be implemented for another five or more years. Prop 23 represents very short-term thinking, trying to address current economic concerns, while ignoring the long-term consequences of inaction. Global warming is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed now, it can’t wait another five years.

Proposition 24 – Repeals Recent Legislation That Would Allow Businesses to Lower Their Tax Liability. Initiative Statue.YES. Recently, as part of state budget agreements, California has changed the laws surrounding taxation of businesses. One of the changes that was made was that businesses were given the ability to carry back their current losses to future years. That means that if a company was taxed on money they made last year, but lost money this year, they could apply those losses to last year and be given money by the state for not being profitable. There is no guarantee that this company will ever make money or create jobs again. At least companies need to make a profit this year to see a benefit from carrying forward their losses. This is simply a handout to businesses that were competitive in the good times but are getting squeezed out of the market during the lean times.

Proposition 25 – Changes Legislative Vote Requirement to Pass Budget and Budget-Related Legislation From Two-Thirds to a Simple Majority. Retains Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.YES. Clearly, California has had a budget crisis for the past decade, even when the economy was booming. The majority of the problem with California’s budget woes comes down to the fact that a two-thirds majority is required to pass the budget. A two-thirds majority vote is undemocratic and leads to a tyranny of the minority. Our budget system currently enables a small number of legislators to dictate far reaching changes to the budget that the majority of people wouldn’t agree with. This one change to the process will vastly improve the way California functions.

Proposition 26 – Requires That Certain State and Local Fees be Approved by Two-Thirds Vote. Fees Include Those That Address Adverse Impacts on Society or the Environment Caused by the Fee-Payer’s Business. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.NO. As in my argument for Prop 25, a two-thirds majority vote is undemocratic and leads to a tyranny of the minority. Prop 26 would ensure that taxes will not be increased or added. The unfortunate fact is that we’re already underpaying our taxes and experiencing a reduction in services because of it. At some point, if we want to maintain the important services that government provides such as quality education, roads, clean water, sanitation, and innumerable others, we will have to raise taxes again. This is just another measure designed to starve government of funding and bankrupt the state.

Proposition 27 – Eliminates State Commission on Redistricting. Consolidates Authority for Redistricting with Elected Representatives. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.NO. Two years ago, California voters created the Citizen Redistricting Commission through Prop 11. The Commission hasn’t even been selected yet and hasn’t had a chance to do their work. Let’s give the process a chance to work its way through at least once before we abolish it and try something different. In fact, this is one of the things I hate the most about California’s initiative process. If people don’t like the turnout of a vote, they just continue trying until they get what they want. That’s hardly a democratic process.

I just relized that I did have JOHO the Blog in my blogadex. Now it’s time to remove the dupicate.
Last night, global burden of disease while I was trying to go to sleep I was thinking about ablogging more, recipe and I have one problem with it, I don’t have enough storage space online to even have low quality mp3s. It would be nice if I could find a place that had a gig of storage for $5/mo. unlimited bandwidth and ftp access. Anybody know of suck a place? Anybody willing to let me use their account so I can try out ablogging? I have some room on this server, but not a lot, so I will maybe make one or two ablog posts to see how it goes. But after that I’m S.O.L.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
I got an email from Dana Blankenhorn, resuscitation the guy that runs Moores Lore thanking me for linking to his blog. All I have to say is no problem, if your blog wasn’t interesting and if I didn’t enjoy reading it I wouldn’t link to it. So thank you for writing interesting content that I enjoy.
Chicago, remedy
the new movie, pharmacy is really good. I saw it tonight, I might buy the soundtrack tomorrow. Go see this movie.
When I wake up in the morning, remind me to write about my idea for a graphical representation of theBlogging Ecosystem and other like documents. (Really, this is just a note to myself.)Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, thumb it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism.
The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog.
Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.Matt Jones among others were talking about vblogging today. I’m still not too sure about vblogging, surgery it takes more time than normal text blogging like this one. The natural next step is to have audio blogging (ablogging?). It is as easy to create as writing, medicine maybe faster even, harder to edit though. But there is a difference between normal text blogging and both vblogging and ablogging and it is the same thing that is different between print journalism and broadcast journalism. The difference between normal blogs and vblogs and ablogs, I see it as more of a problem than just a difference, is the length of time it takes to go through each post. With reading it is easy to skip ahead, to not read entire posts (which I guess you could still do with a vblog or an ablog) or to easily reread short passages or sentences that you did not get the first time through. None of these things are as easy when you have some form of A/Vblog. Anyways, those are my thoughts on vblogging, maybe I will try to start up an ablog here. Or maybe I will have a mix of what I currently have and an ablog.
The 2010 primaries are coming up shortly so I thought I’d put together a short voting guide as I’ve done for past elections. In the past when I’ve written up my voter guide, see I’ve included a recommendation for offices and initiatives. This year however, patient I see few choices in most races so I will wait to make a recommendation on candidates until the general election, purchase with a couple exceptions.

One exception I’m going to make is for the job of Public Administrator for Orange County. Normally, I say why I support a candidate; I try to make my recommendations affirmative, instead of voting against a candidate. However, in the case of Steve Rocco, I can’t emphasize enough the need to vote for anybody else. Mr. Rocco is a perennial candidate, having run for Mayor of Santa Ana in 2000 and Santa Ana City Council in 2008. In 2004, he was elected to the Orange Unified School Board. He was a terrible board member. There was even a recall petition that circulated to try to have him removed from the board. This was mostly because he was more interested in railing against the black vans out to get him (no joke, he’s actually that crazy) and talking about his mother’s health problems than in improving the quality of education in OUSD. It’s also good to note that he was convicted of theft for stealing a half-full bottle of ketchup from a Chapman University cafeteria. Do not vote for this man, he is not Andy Kaufman.

Also in Orange County, there is a fairly contentious race for Sheriff. There are three candidates on the ballot, the incumbent sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Craig Hunter, and former OC Sheriffs Deputy Bill Hunt. Orange County’s Sheriffs department has had a rocky few years. The previous Sheriff, Mike Carona, was indicted for corruption and convicted for witness tampering. After his resignation, Sheriff Hutchens was appointed to the job with the mandate to clean up the department. She brought a very different style and mentality to the department which has rubbed many people the wrong way. The biggest political issue that she has run into is in changing Carona’s policy on concealed weapons permits, refusing to issue most permits in an effort to reduce the number of guns on the street. Both Hunt and Hunter have latched on to this issue, promising to issue permits to anybody who qualifies and asks for one. While I agree with Hunt and Hunter on this issue and believe that a shall-issue policy is the correct one, I also believe that they are using this issue for political reasons without honest convictions to back it up. Sheriff Hutchens is the only candidate out of the three that doesn’t seem to be playing political games and is more interested in serving the residents of Orange County than being a politician.

Now, on to the state-wide issues.

Proposition 13 – Limits on Property Tax Assessment. Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.YES. This measure will make it so building owners will not be faced with having their property re-assessed for tax purposes if they make seismic upgrades to their properties. On the one hand, property taxes are too low and it’s bankrupting the state. Anybody that’s worried about the revaluation of their property probably isn’t paying their fair share of taxes so they SHOULD have it re-valuated. On the other hand, that creates a disincentive for property owners to make structural upgrades that would make their buildings safe, which is a bad thing. At the end of the day, it’s probably better for the state and local governments to give up a small bit of property tax revenue in order to improve the seismic stability of California’s older buildings. The cost to cities for first responders if one of these buildings were to collapse in a large earthquake would far outweigh the additional tax revenue the city would receive from re-assessing the buildings.

Proposition 14 – Elections. Increases Right to Participate in Primary Elections.YES. This measure creates a version of an open primary for state offices. California once had a version of an open primary referred to as a blanket primary, but the courts struck that system down because it violated the people’s freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Proposition 14 will create a different type of open primary, commonly referred to as a Jungle Primary. This system too has been challenged in court, but in 2008 the US Supreme Court ruled that jungle primaries are constitutional. A jungle primary is different than a blanket primary in one important way: it creates what’s tantamount to a runoff election between the two highest vote getters from the primary during the general election, regardless of party. In the old system, anybody could vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary election, and the highest vote getter from each party would move on to the general election. In a jungle primary, voters are still able to vote for any candidate on the ballot during the primary, but only the two highest vote getters will be on the ballot in the general election. This makes it so it will be possible, even likely, that we’ll see two Republicans facing off during the general election in conservative areas and two Democrats in liberal areas. This will enable voters in the general election to pick the more moderate candidate and should lead to less extremism in the state house from both parties.

Proposition 15 – California Fair Elections Act.YES. This measure paves the way for public funding of elections in California. Whether you support this proposition or not all comes down to your views on public financing of elections, and I believe that we should do everything we can to get money out of politics. The current national debate over finance reform is a perfect example of the corrupting influence money has on politics. Senators from both parties are voting against the wishes and best interests of their constituents because they are afraid of Wall Street’s campaign finance spigot being turned off. Publicly funded elections will help ensure our elected representatives are actually representing the voters’ interests and not their donors. Proposition 15 is one small step in that direction.

Proposition 16 – Imposes New Two-Thirds Voter Approval Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.NO. This measure is designed to limit cities ability to create municipal electric utilities. There are two great things that Anaheim has: Disneyland and the Anaheim Public Utilities. Disneyland brings tourists, which in turn bring money and tax revenue to the city. The Anaheim Public Utilities has enabled the city to provide electricity for about a third less than the rates charged by Southern California Edison for Anaheim’s neighboring cities. In addition, Anaheim Public Utilities has been able to build up the city’s supply of electricity that’s generated locally, helping to ensure the power stays on in the event of rolling blackouts that California has experienced in the past. The money Anaheim has spent on its public utilities has been a great investment for the city over the long run. This proposition will make it much harder for other cities to make similar investments in their communities. The campaign for this proposition is funded in large part by California’s major utility companies, which are trying to limit the amount of competition they face throughout the state. More competition is generally good for consumers, this proposition is being marketed as a way to protect residents when in fact it’s simply trying to protect corporate interests.

Proposition 17 – Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage. Initiative Statute.NO. This measure would enable auto insurance companies to raise or lower your premium based on your history of past auto insurance coverage. This means that drivers will be penalized if they drop their insurance coverage for a period of more than 90 days for any reason. For many people, there are good and legitimate reasons why they don’t need car insurance for extended periods of time that has nothing to do with their quality as a driver or risk posed to the insurance company. This change will lead to people keeping their insurance even if they don’t need it simply to avoid the increase in premium later on. Quite simply, a history of insurance coverage is not a valid indicator of driver risk. This is a proposition funded by an insurance company that would increase their profits, not help California drivers.

Today, more about the wife and I started planning our Victory Garden. Between buying everything we needed, website like this preparing the soil, eczema repairing the pipe I broke, and planting our plants, it took about eight hours. We decided to do this for a couple reasons: we needed to do something with our backyard, since it’s been just sitting there for the past year or so; we thought it would be nice to grow some of our own food so we could eat more healthy and save some money. And I have one other motivation that I don’t think Wifey shares, and it goes to reason I’m calling it a Victory Garden, growing our own food increases our household’s resiliency.

Why am I calling it a Victory Garden?

First, a brief history lesson. During both World Wars, the government encouraged people to grow their own food in an effort to reduce the demand on the food supply. These gardens were called Victory Gardens. During the wars, many things that we take for granted were being rationed, including food. By supplementing their rations, people were able to have more to eat and eat healthier. Additionally, these gardens were thought of as a moral booster, as people felt like they were contributing directly to the war effort.

In the 1970s, Victory Gardens once again became popular, even spawning a PBS show The Victory Garden, due to the Arab Oil Embargo. Once again, people were able to supplement their food supply with home-grown produce since there was a shortage of many different goods, not just oil. This is more more closely related to my motivation for building a Victory Garden.

In today’s world, our lives run on a just-in-time delivery system that is incredibly efficient. Nearly everything we buy, whether it’s through the internet or in a store, gets to the store just before we go to buy it. There simply isn’t much reserve of any given item. Either something is being produced, being transported, or being sold and used. Nowhere in there are goods sitting in a warehouse waiting to be demanded.

When this system is working, it works wonderfully. Everybody gets what they need, and the producers, distributors and sellers make more money than they would otherwise. However, this system is very fragile, and if it stops working for any length of time, people stop getting what they need. We have replaced resiliency with efficiency. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if that system ever stops working, we’re all going to be in a world of hurt.

By growing our own food, we’ll always have something to eat if for some reason, there are food shortages and we can’t get what we need at the grocery store.

Planting our new Victory Garden

We have a 30 foot long retaining wall running along one side of our yard, with a small, 15 inch wide planter in front of it. We decided to use this area for the first phase of our Victory Garden. Our plan was to till the soil, add in a bit more, higher quality dirt, and then plant a handful of different crops down its length.

Thankfully, I was allowed to buy a Pulaski. Normally, Pulaskis are thought of as fire fighting tools. They are very efficient when it comes to clearing brush and building a firebreak. For the same reason, they are useful for clearing plants and roots in a garden, which was exactly the job I needed to do. So now I have a new garden tool that can double as a survival tool if the need ever arises.

One downside to using the Pulaski is that I broke an irrigation line. I thought I was digging out a root, but I quickly found out that a section of my sprinkler system wasn’t buried as deeply as most of it was. The Pulaski is very good at digging and cutting, and quickly went right through the pipe.

Thankfully, Home Depot is right around the corner. I went down, picked up a pipe cutter, a length of pipe, some connectors and some PVC cement. With some quick measuring and a couple swift cuts, I had that broken pipe repaired in no time. I even got to add another new tool to my toolbox, so I’ll be able to mend any other pipes I might break in the future.

The Final Victory Garden

Once we repaired the broken irrigation line, we filled in the planter with some new soil, smoothed everything out, and started planting. We bought three each of tomato, cucumber and bell peppers, along with various herbs and garlic. I also planted some corn from seeds. We were mainly going for tall or climbing plants to grow along that back wall. Phase 2 of the Victory Garden will involve constructing a raised planter bed so we can grow more low-lying plants. We’re thinking some berries, squash, zucchini, and carrots. Whatever we think we’ll actually eat.